


Libertatem

by Synapsida



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, Psychological Drama, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 05:48:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17016894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synapsida/pseuds/Synapsida
Summary: A Science Station goes radio silent - when Scotty and his engineering team are sent to reestablish communication, things go south fast and hard.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've started writing this a few months back and am now transferring it to ao3, although it is not yet finished. Bear with me. It's an WIP.

Rain drizzled down on your shoulders - cold and gentle, the kind of rain that didn’t bother you at first but would drench you slowly and treacherously over the course of a few hours. The water had slowly crept through your layers of clothing, first dripping off the water-resistant outer layer - but drop after drop had found it’s way down your neck and into your red uniform until it was heavy with soddeness. After the water had conquered your uniform it had continued to run into your shoes until your feet felt slippery and had lost all feel to them. You longed for the warmth of your quarters and dreamt of fuzzy warm socks. When you had joined starfleet academy you would never have thought that you’d ever long for a pair of fresh dry socks and a mug of hot cocoa like this. You would never have expected to find yourself standing in the dark on an unexplored planet either - it’s lifeless alien rocks stretching out endlessly across you. The small mobile research station was the only spot of light and life in an unfriendly environment. As far as you had caught up on mission papers starfleet scientists were attracted to this Class M planet because of it’s unique structure - breathable atmosphere, water in abundance, but devoid of all life. And right next to the neutral zone. Which was the reason you were standing here, soaking, tired, in the middle of the night with one of your crew mates. You had hoped to chat with him during duty but he had proven taciturn and without much humor, so you’d given up after a couple of failed attempts to strike up conversation with him.

You had only been here for a couple of days - and at that moment you hated every minute of it, the coldness and your wet feet a reminder of your friends who had become pilots or officers.  
„Ensign Y/L/N, please do the rounds across perimetry.“ you had only seen him once before -somewhere in the first few hours where you had been introduced to everybody - and forgotten that Lieutenants name. He could have done the perimetry check himself, but since you were the freshman you desisted from getting in an argument, but sighed instead and saluted. „Aye, Sir.“  
  


The building was not huge or massive - but big enough for a good half-hour walk with plenty of opportunity to get your boots even muddier and rocks and debris enough to break an ankle for those who walked carelessly. You had just finished half of that round and leant against a rock, when everything went white with a soft boom that resonated in your breast and blinded you.  
Grapping for your phaser you stumbled forward, fiddling with it’s settings.  
Agony hit you next - a sharp pain in your left leg, shooting up from the ankle, a feeling as if someone had jabbed a hot iron rod right into your calves. Yelping with pain you doubled over, still blind, phaser falling from your hand and sliding into the dark somewhere beyond your reach.  
„Shit, Shit. LIEUTENANT!“ you yelled, but nobody answered.  
Your hands slipped on the mud around you, feverish grabbing for something - anything to hold onto. Nothing, nothing - then a rock. You pulled yourself up, groaning with pain and only half conscious. It was then when you noticed muffled shoutings, harsh voices in a language you didn’t recognize at once. It was hard to think now. Thought seemed to drip away sluggishly and slowly, like honey trickling from a spoon.  
The voices came closer and you felt yourself slip from your rock, down to the ground again.  
A second impact, right into your arm, robbed you of consciousness, just as a thought had fought it’s way up to your aware self.   
That language.   
Romulan.   
Silence and Darkness followed.

* * *

> **_One month later_ **

„Enterprise, this is Captain Kirk speaking“, the relatively young voice sounded hollow as it resonated through the ships belly over intercom. Montgomery Scott had to stop tinkering and slid out from under a panel, jerking his head upwards to listen. „We will change course for an urgent mission. Science Station Utara Delta has ceased all contact a month ago. Located on a Class M planet near the neutral zone we must enter the planets orbit and send a reconnaissance team to re establish communication. Due to the proximity to the neutral zone we have to be careful and vigilant.“ he cut general transmissions and Scotty could hear how he changed channel, just by the tone the wiring at one of the panels made. „Mr. Scott, you’re going to accompany a small engineering away team. I’ll meet you in the transporter room in 15 minutes.“

* * *

It was not like he had a warp core to tend too, or power structures to control, or general infrastructure requiring his attendance. But away missions had priority, especially this one as it seemed. He grabbed his tool belt and strung it around his hips, gave last orders („Dinnae let this small bar reach 80%, ya hear me lad?“) and told Keenser off for the last time to get off the pipes.  
Only a few moments later he was in the transporter room, surrounded by red shirts of both engineering and security. They were a small team, he counted 10 straightaway.  
„Okay, here’s the deal.“ Kirk folded his arms in front of him.  
„You’ll be transported down 5 at a time, evaluate the situation and reestablish communications as soon as possible. Any sign of trouble and we’re gonna beam you out immediately. Keep in contact at all times.“  
The first 5 members of the away team stepped into the transporter room, there phasers in hand.  
„Secure the perimeter at once. Energize.“, said Kirk and at that they were transported away.  
Scotty stood there for a second, next to him.  
„Be careful, Mr. Scott“, Kirk said and the scotsman nodded, showing him a quick smile.  
„I can be handy if I want ta, Sir.“  
„I’m assured of that, Mr. Scott.“  
He straightened his uniform and stepped on the platform. A moment later he was transported away.

* * *

Smoke. It filled his lungs after the first breath he took on that world. Filled his lungs with the second and he was coughing and gagging by the time he took his third.  
This was not supposed to happen.  
It was a Class-M planet - human-sufficient air, drinkable water deposits.  
The smoke burned in his eyes and tears filled them in a desperate attempt to get rid of the particles clinging to his retina. They were red within seconds.  
This could not happen.  
He heard a scream, turned around on his spot and felt panic creep like ice through his veins.  
His reflexes and his training taught him to duck and run for cover. There was something, a structure - he duck and ran, the smoke following him like a loyal dog. Something buzzed past him, hot, leaving the stench of burnt hair once it had passed and he slid to the ground in reflex, felt rocks rip open the skin of his hands. His fingers felt along his tool belt until they found the familiar shape of his communicator.  
Another thing buzzed past him and voices yelled.  
That language, he thought, it sounded familiar.  
He flipped open the communicator, just as something scorched the side of his chest and he cried out in pain.  
„Request immediate evacuation.“ he yelled.  
„Come on, work, ya awful thing, immediate evacuation requested. We’re under attack. Immediate Evacuation.“  
He ducked behind a rock, grabbing his side, hissing with pain now.  
Absolute chaos surrounded him and the flicker of flames and ever present smoke prevented him from deciphering who was friend and foe, who was attacking or defending.  
„Beam us out, now!“ he hissed into the communicator, as a dark figure appeared in front of him, seemingly out of no where.  
Realization hit him, but it hit too late, hit him with too much surprise to act upon it.  
His world went dark and his communicator never answered.

* * *

„We’ve lost them, Keptin“, Chekovs voice was hollow, as if transmitted through ship intercomm, but he was right there, at the transporter consoles.  
„What do you mean, lost? Where are they?“ that was Kirks voice - stressed, his lips pressed together and brow furrowed.  
„They are.. gone, Zeer. Just gone. No transporter signal, nothing, Keptin.“  
„Uhura, please run a scan on all frequencies. Look for .. anything unusual.“ the Captain hailed bridge through intercomm, then turned around to face his vulcan first officer, who was observing the situation. Solid as a rock.  
„What do you make of this, Spock?“  
„This is very hard to determine without further evidence. Our scans returned clean, without any signs of lifeforms. I would advice further scans and reconnaissance from orbit until we decide on our next action.“  
Of course Spock was collected, analyzing as always. And right.  
Right even if his first impulse was to jump into the transporter himself.  
„Ensign Chekov return to your post at once and run deep scans of the entire system.“  
„Aye, aye, keptin.“

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Day 1**

_„We’re easy to love, when we’re down on our knees.“_

He woke up to darkness and a throbbing pain in his head. Prying his eyes slowly open the darkness around him started to take form as he got accustomed to his surroundings - small filthy looking rays of orange light split the room before him into shades of grey. Wether the orange tint came from the planets sun or an artificial light, he could not say. Somewhere in the distance a machine hummed and buzzed - a sound his subconscious mind immediately took in and stored away for later analyzing. The black and grey differentiated further - the orange tint glowed through a small window, maybe a man’s height above his head. There was the weight of cuffs around his wrists - subtle and lightweight, only noticeable because they were a strange feature for a man usually devoid of all jewelry.

„Shit“, he muttered and his voice sounded hollow even in his own ears. His throat hurt, raw from the smoke and yelling, prompting him to cough until tears welled up in his eyes.

„Shit“, the Enterprises CE muttered once more and lifted his hands, staring at the cuffs.  
Standard Issue Starfleet Equipment. With a bit of time on his hands and a few tools he’d be able to break them in no time. Time was, he figured, not his main problem though.  
He fumbled for his tool belt, just in case, but his captors weren’t that stupid. What a pity.  
As his senses returned as well as his common sense, there was another thing that caught his attention. It was a soft sound, so soft and gentle in fact that he had first taken it for part of the machines humming in the distant and only now realized that it originated from much closer. Almost … human.  
„Hello?“, he asked softly in return, as if talking at a sacred place, trying not to disturb the silence and solemnity.  
The other sound stopped and only the machine’s humming stayed. He narrowed his eyes, a stupid thing when trying to pierce the darkness in front of him, and the orange tint swayed just enough to the left to capture the glistening of eyes in the corner furthest away from him. The eyes belonged to someone - or something - else, a creature huddled,muscles strained and tense. Maybe a humanoid wrapping it’s arms around knees pulled close, maybe something entirely different and unknown to him. The only thing he was sure of was the defensive stare he was given, a hard glint like steel, obfuscated by the darkness around the.  
He looked up to the window, now very sure that the light outside was artifical, listening to footsteps or anything else, then looking back to the creature and considering his options.  
What could or should he say? Was it wise to state his name? Was it a trick, a deception to con him into giving away information?  
He felt awfully misplaced, a sense of dread spreading in his chest, born from a situation he felt utterly unfamiliar with. Situations like this were the Captains expertise.  
„I’m Montgomery Scott. USS Enterprise.“  
A whimper. He was not bound to the ground, only restricted in the movement of his hands. He could get up and closer. Get a closer look.  
He listened again. No footsteps no nothing. His sense of time had abandoned him the moment he fell unconscious.  
„Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott. Yer human? Ya speak standard?“  
Again only silence and the humming of machinery which he would’ve found comforting everywhere else.  
„Probably not, then“, he sighed and leant back against the wall behind him.

* * *

**Enterprise**  
  
„Results, Captain“, Lieutenant Uhura turned around on her chair, concern spread across her face. Her eyes caught Spocks, just for a second, before landing back on Kirk. The man looked strained, the mischievous glow in his eyes had dimmed down, he was a captain today, one that had lost several members of his crew without knowledge of how and why things had happened.  
Not lost, she corrected herself, only missing in action. Nothing was determined yet.  
„Let’s hear them, Lieutenant.“ he straightened up in his captains chair.  
„I have cross referenced data with Mr. Spock. We found some interesting wavelengths not usually in use by Starfleet or any known allies. It seems our transporter signal had been blocked the moment the second team went down. That’s why it appeared as if we’d lost our people.“  
„Had been blocked?“ Kirk caught on, pressing the transporter rooms intercom button almost instantly. „Ensign Chekov, scan for life signs and transport anyone up you can find. We’re not going to leave anyone up there.“ - „Aye, Keptin.“  
Without awaiting further questions from Chekov he released the button and turned around to Bones. His dark eyes were right there. The CMO just nodded and grabbed his Comunicator, hailing Medbay: „Chapel, prepare everything for incoming injured crew members, 4 nurses down to the transporter room, please hail M’Benga to stand by just in case.“

* * *

The transporter room was chaos for the few seconds it took Doctor McCoy to descend upon the scene with furious intent. The first few chaotic seconds after the arrival of several injured crew members quickly turned into efficient prioritizing. Kirk watched his CMO work from the corner of the room - he saw a few broken limbs, someone who was immediately carried away on a biobed despite looking unharmed at first look. Issuing a few more orders, McCoy hurried after a second and third biobed. He counted seven injured, two dead and one missing.  
Scotty.  
„Lieutenant Uhura“, he lifted his communicator to his ear. „Anything knew? We’re missing Mr. Scott.“  
„Nothing yet, Sir. Communications is working on it.“

* * *

„Au’e“, a voice laughed outside, probably male with an unpleasant sound to it.  
A door opened and that orange light flooded the room - the scotsman was fast enough to turn around his head, face the other side of the cell and not be immediately blinded this way.

_Human,_  he thought as he saw the huddled figure, even if barely so.  
The man behind the voice - a tall figure that was nothing more then a shadow against the light, threw two bowls into the cell, splattered what was hopefully replicated mush around and shut the door again with a bang that made his ears ring.  
Footsteps became distant and silence fell again.  
„Yer human, lass.“ Scotty grabbed the bowls, trying not to spill the rest of their contents in the room and got closer to the hunched cell mate.  
„Looks like we’re in this together now,“ he added and put one of the bowls just close enough for her to reach for it. He then sat down on the opposite wall, now closer, able to watch her without squinting through the darkness.  
Her hands were bound too, but the electric cuffs looked like they had lost charge and should’ve been exchanged at last a few weeks ago. She did neither seem to notice, nor to care anymore. Blank eyes staring at him with fear and repulsion and what he discerned as rejection of another being close to her.  
„Didnae care for a real cook here. Could at least cook something decent for a lassie like ya.“ he sniffed at the bowl and knew in an instant that only hunger would bring this stuff down his throat and only pride would keep it there.  
„Ensign Y/N“ at first he did not recognize her speaking. It was such a raw sound, shivering and clinging to some strength hidden deep below, that he had difficulty discerning her voice and the human sounds she made. She spoke Standard.  
„Security Division, assigned to Station Utara Delta. Starfleet Number 22/76/21.“  
He sighed and swallowed down one bite of whatever they were giving him. At best, they’d just poison him.  
„See, we’re getting somewhere“, he whispered more to himself then anyone else. „Just say Scotty.“  
She moved slowly, deliberately grabbing the bowl and watching him, the expression of her face not changing.  
„Ensign Y/N, Security Division, Starfleet Number…“  
The scotsman eyed her and forced the kindest smile he had on his face.  
„Yer a fighter. Tha’s good. Ya’ll see, lass.“  
  
 _Captain, get me out of here fast_ , he thought, listening hard for footsteps on the bare concrete outside. Whatever happened here, it was best not to find out personally.

* * *

 


End file.
